Thursday, March 15, 2012

{Paleo 101 Books} Eat Like a Dinosaur By Paleo Parents

I have reviewed quite a few gluten free books geared towards children in the the past few years and I have to say that Eat Like a Dinosaur is truly one of my favorites. This book is written by Stacy Toth and Matthew McCarry, founders and authors of the website: Paleo Parents. The heart of these two parents is beautifully woven throughout this cookbook. I love the overall tone, which is loving, happy, and full of giggles! You can tell through the pictures and gentle words that Stacy and Matthew's children are healthy, joyful, and thriving. The recipes are written in such a unique and genuine way. They specifically show which steps children can take part in and help with. I love the explanations of each recipe and why this family loves them. I love the way the book is divided clearly and easily into main dishes, vegetables, treats, etc.

There are just so many wonderful things about this book! I love the introductory illustrated story for children about how the kids and their parents decided to follow a healthier diet. The children slowly learned to love the new foods and they felt better about themselves and healed their bodies. Following the story, there is collection of over 100 recipes that both parents and children will love. All of the recipes are easy enough for beginner cooks and include tips and hints on how to make the process easier, what you can do or prepare ahead of time, etc...

My husband and I have tried quite a few recipes from this cookbook over the last two weeks. I've made the Ratatouille twice (yum!! and wow it smells amazing!), "Eggs in a basket" (sausage and egg cups, YUM!), and one night this week we made the Fool's Gold chicken nuggets:

Even Michael helped! It was so much fun to cook these together!

We loved the seasonings in the almond flour coating and it was a really delicious and fast way to cook chicken! I think we're going to make a big batch of the dry coating as a "paleo" shake-and-bake!

Since last February I've learned a lot about my body. I'm better at understanding what foods make my body feel well and what foods do not. I already knew about gluten, dairy, soy, corn, shrimp, and a few other odds and ends... But one thing I finally came to realize is that my body absolutely doesn't digest beans very well. Yet, I really love vegetables. It was frustrating for me because it's a common teaching that beans are really healthy. So I would always TRY to eat them, even though I always had painful tummy issues afterwards.

While beans in general truly are healthy for many people, they simply do not work for my body. This was the biggest reason that following a "paleo" type diet would be beneficial for me. Yet, it also made me feel like a whole category of my diet was now off limits. But Eat Like a Dinosaur provides so many different types of veggie-filled, yet bean-free options, such as Bunny Soup and Ratatouille (which was absolutely delicious and made enough for an army), Carrot Rounds, Kale Chips, Mock-a-Mole... I absolutely don't feel deprived! I'd really love to just cook my way through this whole comforting cookbook.

Would you like a chance to do that too? I am going to giveaway a brand-new copy of this book as soon as it's released on March 20th. I'm personally buying this copy to send to you myself because I'm such a huge fan of it!

This contest has now ended!

Congratulations to Kathysyear, comment #19:

kathysyear Mar 15, 2012 10:56 AMI've made the journey from gluten free to primal over the last 2 years. Now I'd like to bring my family along. Would love some kid friendly recipes for my (almost) 4 year old daughter.

This giveaway will end on Tuesday 3/20/2012 at midnight to celebrate Eat Like A Dinosaur's release day!

I'm so excited to giveaway a copy of this book. It's truly one of the best cookbooks I've read in years and it makes me excited to cook. I hope it will encourage a spark of creativity in your own kitchen as well!

Make sure to stay tuned and continue reading the {Paleo Books 101} series! I will have a "reader's choice" giveaway with two winners to choose the books of their choice from this series! So you not only a chance today to win this copy of Eat Like a Dinosaur, but another chance next week!

GLG Disclosure: Victory Belt Publishing provided me with with a copy of this book for review, if I chose to do so. This is not a sponsored post and I did not receive compensation. The opinions in this post are completely my own.

133 comments:

In trying to return to total health after being diagnosed with hypothyroidism, I turned to whole foods, mostly produce, to help support my thyroid function naturally. Some friends led me to concluding that gluten was the root cause. Two years gluten-free! Since then, I find myself using less and less grains and not missing them when they aren't on my plate. :)

I agree with everything you wrote, Carrie, from the fun of this book to learning that a lot of the things conventional wisdom tells us are good for our bodies that my body just rejects. The best thing about our online community is we can share our personal research and gather together to support each other when our findings and our bodies disagree with the 'accepted wisdom.'

I am so anxious for this book to come out. I pre-ordered it ages ago. Your review has encouraged me even more. I want to send copies as gifts to my kids and a couple of close friends, but was waiting until I had it in my hands to be sure. I may just go ahead with those orders. I think it would be a fun surprise to have it arrive at their doors unexpected.

I also love the idea of mixing a big batch of the chicken coating to have on hand.

Great review, Carrie! Don't enter me in the giveaway - I have a copy - but I'm with you - beans hate me too. As much as I try to eat them, they just tear me up. I too am very paleo-leaning. Grain-free and bean-free is the way my body is most happy. This is a great book for those reasons and more!

I want that book! :) Great review! hmm...we try to cut back on sugar and do much more gluten free baking (for some of us we have to be and the rest because we don't them having a entire wheat diet...) :)

Thank you for this great giveaway! I really try to choose healthy foods and have recently cut out all coffee, sugar (aside from fruit), dairy, grains and legumes (and all processed foods) as a way to take my health back and I'm feeling great! Now the challenge is getting through those emotional times!

Wow, I've totally upended my diet from the way I was raised to eat as a child. I am now gluten, dairy, soy, sugar, cereal grain free and my focus is on whole foods. I eat organic and I raise my own as much as I am able. My gut is happier and I am healthier as a result.

We are two elderly people whose poor health could, in large part, be attributed to the SAD of parents, and then ourselves. For the last 10 years I have tried to incorporate much of Nourishing Traditions' ways into our diet, and progressed on to low-carb, partially paleo. I would love to have this cookbook to actually have a hard copy of paleo to browse through, cook through, and make notes on for next time. :) It looks easy enough for an oldie to cook from, and unique enough to captivate our taste buds!

Going gluten and dairy free (2009) has helped put my rheumatoid arthritis into remission. It flares up sometimes but not as bad as it used to be. But it's just been the last year or so that I've been completely cutting out the grains and transitioned to organic and whole foods. Nothing processed (at least very little). I'm hoping to get my low thyroid, adrenal dysfunction and female hormones under control without meds. The hard part is waiting for things to start changing. Would love a copy of this book for great, new recipes.

My daughter and I are gluten and dairy free already but she just got diagnosed with ADHD and I need to find a dietary solution I don't want to ever put her on drugs. THis book would help imensely. I liked you and Paleo parents on Facebook and have shared this giveaway on facebook and twitter.

My husband and I decided to start Paleo last weekend. So far so good. We hare having trouble getting our 4 kids ages 6, 4, and almost 2 year old twins to like to eat this way. When i heard about this book i was excited to try something kid friendly and would absolutely love to get a copy. I took my daughter to the grocery store with me last night and as we picked up some veggies and meat she would look at random stuff and ask "is that healthy Mom? Are crackers healthy? Is cereal healthy?" Excited to make this a family affair and get us all eating Paleo.

My husband, 4 daughters and I have been on the paleo diet since Thanksgiving in an attempt to help solve some of our health problems. We love it and have all been feeling a bit better! I have a pretty good variety of breakfasts and dinners but we are starting to get so bored with lunches and snacks! Feeding 4 picky kids on this diet has become almost a full time job! This cookbook would hopefully make my life a little easier :)

I've been suffering from medium-harsh eczema in the last five years, and have been reading quite a lot on food's effects on the human body. I first stopped refined sugars and alcohol which helped me a lot. For a couple of weeks now I'm on the hypotoxic diet which resembles the paleo diet in many ways. I get a lot less flare-ups than before, which is encouraging. I'll be continuing on this path until I regain clear skin!

My husband, 4 daughters, and I have been on the paleo diet since thanksgiving. We love it but feeding 4 picky kids on this diet feels like a fulltime job! I would love a cookbook designed esspecially with kids in mind!!

Sounds like a great book! I've just gone paleo, about 1 month now. Trying to kind of transition my family, dinners are now all paleo, whole and REAL foods. In fact I finally roasted a chicken 2 nights ago and am getting ready to make bone broth this weekend. I'm excited to try!

Sounds like a great book! I've been paleo for about 1 month now and have been transitioning my family bit by bit. Dinners have been so much better with REAL, whole food. I roasted a chicken the other night and am looking forward to making bone broth this weekend.

I'm 'trying' to incorporate more whole foods into our diet by eliminating grains...which does a lot of that. Yet, there are still things i can buy that are grain-free but not considered 'whole foods'. So, I am trying to go paleo to ensure that I get rid of the processed junk. It's harder than i thought, as a mom to 4, to make meals quickly and easily and on a budget. So this cookbook would be a HUGE help in that area, i think. The recipes sound like they'd be easy AND tasteful enough that my family would love them. ;)

My son was recently diagnosed with Autism and i heard from a friend and now from Doctors that a DAiry free gluten free can help . My son has been sooo picky with foods and would only eat snack bars . we have only been on a diet for not even two weeks and he is eating , chicken , all meats, rice ...and he hasn't touched any candy or snack and doesn't even ask for them :) So no snack or processed food for us :)

My 3 year old son was diagnosed a year ago with asthma. I'm not certain that is what he has, so in a couple of weeks we will be taking him to have food allergy and sensitivity testing done, as he is allergic to nuts and eggs. I have or had Chron's Disease and have now been symptom and drug free for 7 years. I love to cook and bake and am always looking for new ways to come up with things. this cookbook looks great and I have been reading so many great reviews about it. I will be excited for it to come out. Thanks for your website!

My son has been recently diagnosed with Autism so i have stated gluten free and dairy free diet . He no longer gets any snacks and eats more veggies and fruits and no processed foods . He has been really picky for years and now i'm in shock that he is eating brown rice , drinks rice milk , eating meat and chicken that are not from restaurants :)

We are gluten, dairy and soy free--we are working towards being sugar and grain free as well. Our oldest has celiac and my husband and I are gluten intolerant--that is what got us going down this road...

I've replaced all our modern fats with traditional fats and our sugar with less-processed versions. I add homemade broth to everything, from rice to soup to vegetables to reheating leftovers. I'm trying to not overwhelm myself by making just one healthy change at a time.

I have been doing a gluten free diet for a year now and am feeling much better. Now my Hubby was told by his doctor that he needs to get his butt in gear and watch what he eats or it will be insulin shots for him next visit. So I've been researching more into the Paleo diet and would really like to get the WHOLE family eating healthier. Last fall my daughter and I canned everything we could from our huge garden. No sugars used! And it tasted so delicious all winter long. We plan on doing that again.Judy

Our family of six is going gluten free, starting this week. There are many health concerns I have for each of us. So going all in. As I emptied our pantry the four kids were having severe anxieties. Was a funny moment for me. I stopped by a brand new store in Racine and picked up a few sweeter items, brownie mix, cereal, and a few snacks. Hoping to assure them we wouldn't be eating tasteless cardboard. So you see, I could really use this cookbook it would be my first and it looks like a great book to start with. Taste tasted by the pickiest critics.Thank you

We gave up ALL forms of sugar and I gave up grains. THIS has made the difference in our healthy eating plan. We don't crave food at all anymore!!! What a sense of freedom! Both my husband and I just eat when we're hungry and our choices have improved so much! We make a family salad every night into which we are all allowed to throw one healthy ingredient. Even our 5 year-old helps out! She proudly tells her friends at school that we are a sugar-free family! My other favorite thing is tossing a load of different veggies with olive oil, salt and pepper and roasting the whole thing in the oven. Any combination works, as long as they can all be cooked for the same length of time. We've signed up to get produce packs once a week from our local farming co-ops too! I can't wait to see what surprise veggies we have coming our way! Finally, we've taken the grocery store challenge and try to only buy organic food that is located on the perimeter of the store (no aisle shopping!). That's only until the farmer's market opens again for the summer months! Then we're back to even better and healthier food!

We are parents to 9 kids and we are all gluten free. Some of us are gluten intolerant, while some of us have Celiac. After a while we just stopped testing and we all eat the same. We have tried to incorporate more meats and vegetables into our diets and moving away from things we can't "produce" ourselves on our small 13 acre farmstead. I am very excited for this book to come out. So are my youngest 2 boys, ages 4 and 6, who are dedicated Dino lovers!!!! Keep up the amazing site!!!

We are parents to 9 children, and we are all gluten free due to either some form of gluten intolerance or Celiac. We have tried to move away from things we can't "produce" ourselves on our small farmstead. We are working to incorporate more greens, veggies, and meats into our diets and eliminate things we purchase from a store shelf. We are very excited for this book to come out, especially our youngest 2 boys, ages 4 and 6, who are diehard Dino lovers. Love your site!!!!Keep up the amazing work!!!!!

I follow you on twitter, and have linked to you on my blog :) I feel your pain! I'm gf, and have Oral Allergy syndrome so have no choice but to be very careful about everything I eat. In my efforts to be healthy, I drink shots of homemade green juice every day and salads every night. My fiance and I have been loosely following a paleo diet - I think he'd really like this book. If I don't win it, I might just get it for him anyway!

We have been using mostly coconut palm sugar in our baked goods at my house for the last several months. My family is not on a special diet as I am, but they really seem to like the lastest baked treats a lot! Stephanie T.

I love the Paleo Parents and their book looks awesome! Our family went gluten, dairy, soy, and refined sugar free one year ago (in large part to help my husband, who has a severe auto-immune disorder). We had always tried to eat fairly healthy, making most things from scratch, using super foods and good fats (I have been a coconut lover for years!), etc, but decided to make a full commitment to only using whole foods. Our diet over the past year has evolved into being mostly Paleo- we do eat some beans and brown rice. We received our initial direction from a natural health practitioner, but what has really shaped our diet, has been all of the wonderful food blogs I have found on this journey. Yours was one of the first I came to. My family was so ecstatic when I first made your Maple Oat Bread! It is a favorite that I take to almost every family gathering! I found Spunky Coconut, Elana, and Nourishing Flourishing shortly after, and then came all of the Paleo bloggers. The only things we buy at a store, are fresh foods like produce and cage free eggs. We get 1/2 cow (grass fed) from a rancher down the road, and our other meats from a local butcher. The rest of our food, I buy in bulk online or from Azure Standard. It has just become a way of life and one that I enjoy a great deal. It felt a bit complicated at first, but I have come to realize that much of it is actually simpler. An example would be one of my favorite things to make (and eat), chia pudding- made with coconut or almond milk. It is so easy and so nutritious. My whole family loves it (my kids beg me for it). Thanks for putting yourself out there to help others, Carrie! And thank you for the opportunity to win this great cookbook! :)

i buy fresh foods at Trader Joes and farmers markets and do not go into the center aisles in the regular market. I cook almost all of my own food and try to select non-processed ingredients at all times

I try so hard to be gluten-free and low/no grain but it's such a challenge with two young boys (who both need it) and a husband who's just fine with gluten and grains and doesn't quite get it. I think the boys would really enjoy helping me prepare food from a cookbook for them. Plus, March 20th is my soon to be 8 year old's birthday :)

I first went gluten free, and realized it wasn't enough, so over the past two months have adopted a Paleo way of life. Loving it, but having some challenges getting my 7 year old daughter and husband on board. As my daughter is crazy about dinosaurs, and knows I am taking control of my health, I think this would help her to see it through different eyes! :)

I first went gluten free about 5 months ago, and realized it wasn't helping me enough with some health challenges, so went Paleo about 2 months ago. I have a 7 year old daughter that I am trying to get on board (and a hubby who loves his bread and pasta). As my daughter adores dinosaurs and knows I am taking control of my health, I think she would love and benefit from this book! :)

I was diagnosed 3 days ago with 29 food allergies. The only foods my body will let me eat now is meat, veggies, seeds, and nuts. I'll try and add some fruit back into my diet in 6 months. This book looks like a good way to teach my boys (ages 2 and 4) to eat like mommy eats.

I found your blog through Lexie's Kitchen, and I'm so glad I did! It sounds like you and I have very similar food allergies. I feel EXACTLY the same way as you about beans! We have been trying to eat more vegetarian lately (partly because it's cheaper) but I've been noticing that beans are kind of painful for me to digest. I was already off of gluten, dairy, eggs, corn and soy as well (for about the last five months). I'd love to win this book, both for my kids AND for me!

I like Gingerlemongirl girl on face book and follow on blogspot. My husband has Celeiac disease so I make family meals without gluten the rest of us eat mostly gluten free now too. Eat like a dinosaur sound great! I am always looking for new things to make for kids that don't involve processed foods.famlee@ frontier.com

Constantly emailing and receiving emails of recipes from friends. The continual finds on blogs makes it easy. Also, switched over from my wanna be coffee drinks to black, organic coffee made at home. Also cheaper :)

We've always been a pretty "healthy" family but I just recently stumbled upon eating paleo. In 2 weeks I've dropped extra weight that has been difficult for me to lose and I've noticed a change in my 4 year old's behavior. We would love to win this book!

We haven't fully embraced eating healthier yet, but we've tried some of the paleo parents' recipes off their blog and they've been fantastic. Leaning more and more towards it everyday. This book would help us with getting our four kids on board!

We've cut way back on simple carbs and sugar and have tried new recipes from the Weston Price and paleo community. I would love this book for my kids to continue to do what we are doing with some new inspiration.

Two years ago, I decided that I'd wanted to lose weight, it was shortly after trying to learn about ways to cut calories that I began to learn about how to eat a much more wholesome diet. Over the course of the following two years, I've been attempting to weed out anything that isn't nutritionally valuable. Basically, it was switching from a flavor based diet to a nutrient based diet, which I find I rather enjoy the flavor of rather better. There is also allergies and food intolerances that developed in the family, thus eliminating both gluten and soy. Which was another reason that we decided to eat as healthy as possible. For me, that means eliminating sugars, especially added sugars, as much as possible, vastly reducing the reliance upon carbohydrates, even whole-grain ones, increasing the amount of protein, good fats, vegetables, and a moderate amount of fruit. Between the food intolerances and the choices we make to not eat it, processed foods have been almost entirely replaced with much more wholesome food. It's been a fun and enjoyable learning experience. Eating out can be a challenge, but there is usually some sort of solution, with rare exceptions.

A way my family and I have been trying to eat healthier is going from a strict 16 year stint of vegetarianism a 100% paleo diet! All 5 of my kids ages 18 months to 11 years are doing it, although we've definitely had our struggles. This book would help so much and my fingers and toes will remain crossed that we win! Thanks so much! :-)

My family went GF last spring when my three kids were diagnosed with celiac disease. Since then, I have been experimenting with more healthful baking and my kids love it. I also try to utilize our farmers market when the weather is right in Michigan.

My son has food allergies, so he is gluten/soy/egg/dairy/peanut free. The rest of us are semi gluten/soy free because its easier for me. I would love to go paleo! This book sounds so fun I love your descriptions of it!